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famous brands on instagram. How to promote your personal brand on Instagram. #Reputation management and feedback

Promoting your I-brand on the Instagram social network will help you attract the target audience, make yourself known, increase reader loyalty and increase the value of the services or products you are promoting. Also, competent promotion of a personal brand helps to declare oneself as an expert.

In promoting a personal brand, there are many problems associated with competent positioning, constant retention of attention, and the choice of publication format. We will talk about what strategy works and how to solve these problems.

We won't talk about , and other basic issues - we examined them in detail in other articles. Let's move on to the main thing - we will tell you what is needed for the competent promotion of a personal brand on Instagram.

Positioning

This is the main stage in the formation of a personal brand. It depends on positioning how the target audience will treat you, what kind of readers you will attract and what image will be associated with you.

Tell us who you are and what will be useful to the target audience. You can immediately tell about the services that you promote through your personal brand, or simply indicate the area of \u200b\u200byour interests. For example:

tell me what you're talking about political topics on your blog;
indicate that you are a psychologist with 10 years of experience and help clients solve personal problems;
mention that you are a business coach and help clients increase profits.

It is desirable to place this information in the profile description so that everyone can see it. You can also add themed hashtags to your posts, for example,#cook, #kitchen life, #kitchen, #kitchen secrets for an expert chef profile.
An example of good positioning: it is immediately clear who this person is and how he can be useful to the target audience. A segment is immediately highlighted - Svetlana helps women.

Expertise

Show off your expertise. There are thousands of profiles with hackneyed quotes, other people's thoughts and non-unique content. There are very few profiles with expert content. Talk about what you really understand, mention participation in specialized events, and answer subscribers' questions in the comments in detail.

But here it is important not to "go too far" with expertise. Each profession has its own terms, and they are not always clear to the target audience. If you are targeting a broad target audience, try to keep your writing simple and clear. And if your target audience is exclusively builders, programmers, doctors or people of other professions, you can and even need to use complex terms. This will emphasize that you really understand the topic.

A good example of confirmation of expertise is the competent table setting in the profile of the chef.

stay alive

There are many accounts on Instagram created to promote a personal brand, but they are half empty and almost “dead”. Their owners try to publish only useful expert content, but it usually takes a lot of time to prepare it. Therefore, posts come out infrequently and are “lost” in the general feed.

To prevent this from happening, stay "alive". Post at least 1-2 posts a day. You can even not quite thematic - for example, publish a photo from a conference or other event, a picture of a beautiful landscape or a photo from the office. This way you achieve several goals at once:

once again remind subscribers of your existence;
slightly increase positions in the smart Instagram feed;
Improve engagement rates if posts get likes.

Singer Alexei Vorobyov does not forget to make the account alive - he publishes a photo from life. By the way, he has 3.3 million subscribers.

To keep the attention of old subscribers and attract new ones, you need to be useful. Post interesting and useful content, such as:

some non-standard or popular solutions to typical difficult situations;
recommendations for properly reinstalling Windows, caring for a pet or losing weight - depending on the focus
screenshots that clearly show where and in what sequence to click to perform a certain action
infographics with statistics or other valuable information for the target audience
a visual diagram or description of the implementation of exercises: physical or psychological
think about what your target audience will be interested in and what benefits your posts can bring.

By publishing useful content, you will once again show your expertise and increase engagement rates - recommendations are often read to the end, like posts and leave comments. Do not forget to answer additional questions from followers - this will have a positive impact not only on ER, but also on your image.

Instagram marketer Kristina shares good writing techniques with her followers.

Share cases

Case studies are another type of posts that will help increase interest in your account and once again prove your expertise. Post a photo report on the work done, describe the difficulties you encountered and the result you came to. Post photos with satisfied customers or testimonials from them - this will increase the loyalty of the target audience. Or provide a case in the format of dry statistics: what happened before your work and what happened after you solved the problem.

If there are no cases yet, you can replace them with photos of the workflow. Show what you are doing and what it is for. Tell us in detail about some stage of the project or the task and your thoughts about it.

Copywriter Alla solved two problems: she shared useful content and showed a case - the way she writes.

Let's recap: 5 tips for building your personal brand on Instagram

Position yourself correctly - tell who you are and how you will be useful to the target audience.
Show your expertise: that you understand the topic and will really be useful to the target audience.

Instagram's success only confirms the hypothesis that niche cleavage is the future of the social media market. As predicted by Western marketers, social networks are beginning to be divided not only by the type of users, such as LinkedIn (for professional contacts), but also by the type of content, such as the “visuals” of Pinterest and Instagram. By the way, both of the latter are dedicated exclusively to graphic content, but it was Instagram that became an amazing success story.

The number of Instagram followers is growing every second. It would be reckless not to use such a "live" platform in the interests of your business, despite the fact that the largest social networks have long been more than successfully used to promote brands. Strategies, methods have been developed, a real industry of SMM services has been created. Perhaps it's time to look at the possibilities of Instagram through the eyes of social media specialists, since this is no longer one of billions of applications, but a social network that can, like others, become a powerful marketing channel for brands.

II. What Instagram gives brands

Instagram in its potential is an "untilted field" of various opportunities both for B2C brands (aimed at the end consumer) and for companies oriented towards a business audience (with a well-built business strategy). By the way, unlike the methods, the goals that can be achieved using the service are largely identical to those set in a standard marketing campaign in social networks, namely:

#Recognition

Although there are no ads on Instagram, you can pinch off some of the fame from here: you need to give such content that users themselves subscribe to you (it is important not to slide into an account with funny pictures). The absence of a viral effect complicates everything, since sharing (posting other people's posts in your feed) requires a special application. In what situation would a user rush to install it? Perhaps, if only you take a picture of him and he wants to get a picture of himself beloved. There is only one way out: to become the very best, the most interesting, the most useful.

#Loyalty

It's such an interesting thing when people love your brand. Not products, not employees, but just a brand for what it is. Yes, not every online bearing store will be able to repeat the success of Apple. But you can and should try to make the buyer fall in love with you, and here visual content will help you. Today, when people have no time to read, communication through pictures can be considered the beginning of flirting.

#Reputation management and feedback

Any impact on someone else's opinion gives rise to an instant reaction, as in Newton's mechanics. You can make the most wonderful product (which we have no doubt), but there will still be critics. It is necessary to respond to angry reviews (whether fair or not). Answering questions about the company, products and services is your sacred duty and the ability to win over a potential client.

The limited search functionality on Instagram makes the process difficult. Here the principle of “hashtag or nothing” applies, which also gives good results.

#Lead generation (receiving targeted calls to the company)

Let's start with the frustration: Selling directly from Instagram is hard enough. Of course, the service can indirectly present the product to a potential client, but the issue of switching to an order/purchase will have to be solved by indirect methods (a personal appeal to the account moderator, a call to visit the site, call back, etc.). The main difficulty is the inability to perform the target action directly from the service.

Link clicks cannot be counted as such. Yes, and in principle, there is only one active link - in the description of the account in the profile. But no one bothers to sign under the photo that the product has appeared on the site or in any store, tell about the new model, etc.

III. How to maintain an account

The main difference between Instagram is that people come here exclusively for cute-looking content, while other social networks serve several purposes: communication, entertainment, information (for example, consult with friends about which pan to buy as a gift). That's why to promote a brand, you have to do anything but give the user that delicious picture. There are several tools to help you.

Strategy

Before registering an account on Instagram, you need to understand what can be your “trick”. If you plan to post photos of your product from different angles, you will not achieve anything by this (it is better to immediately give the budget to someone who urgently needs money). On the this stage you cannot do without a clear digital strategy tailored to this social network. Let's consider its main components.

#Idea

Look at successful brand accounts or just Instagram bloggers with many thousands of followers who may not be famous people. Each of them has some idea. Perhaps the most famous example is the account of photographer Murad Osmann and his Follow Me project.

Of course, it will be enough for some Madonna to simply take a picture of herself in the mirror in the bathroom. If you are not Madonna, you will have to work much, much harder. You have to provide really interesting content, in a pinch - useful, and at the same time do not stray too far from your brand. Suppose you have an online store of sweets: no need to photograph the counter or copy the candy catalog. Take many beautiful still lifes with different moods and post a couple a day.

#Content plan

This life-simplifying thing is usually always written down when drawing up a strategy. So, no matter what enterprising advertisers promise you, remember: an Instagram account is when less is better. Just imagine yourself in the place of a user who, yawning, opens the Instagram feed in the morning and instead of a selfie of friends in every second photo, he sees, in fact, the advertising content of some brand. Remember what the news feed looks like on a smartphone. This is really a tape where you need to scroll through the photos from one to another, from interesting to even more attractive, and everything will immediately fall into place. That's right: everything boring and intrusive will only cause irritation and a desire to immediately unsubscribe from such a subscription.

As an example, let's take the account of the home appliance manufacturer Korting. According to the concept and content plan, photos of mouth-watering dishes with pleasant wishes were posted to the community several times a week, and only on Thursdays - branded content designed in the style of the company.

#The target audience

It is important to reach out to your audience so that your content is interesting and useful to them - this rule applies to all marketing on social media, it also applies to Instagram.

Be sure to make your profile photo - your business card - bright and memorable. Will it be the company logo in pure form, some of its variations or an image within the framework of the chosen account strategy - it's up to you. But remember: the vast majority of users watch the feed from the screen of their smartphones, and they are quite small. You will definitely not have a second chance to make a first impression on potential customers - think over this moment in advance. As an example, let's take the Forever "21 brand: a bright, recognizable and at the same time concise profile photo that fits perfectly into the overall concept of the account.

Content

There are two types of content on Instagram: photos and videos. The ability to shoot videos appeared not so long ago, the timing of videos is limited to 15 seconds, and nothing can be done about it. Undoubtedly, on this moment A photo has a huge advantage over a video, as it requires less effort to create and view.

Uniqueness. We have already talked about the uniqueness of your content as a defining feature of a successful promotion on Instagram. So this is actually very important: the content must be really original. If you already take some existing pictures, they should at least not be hackneyed. Here you can help various photobanks, of which there are a great many on the network.

Description. It is often useful, in addition to hashtags, to add a description to each photo (some kind of brief explanation, question or comment). Of course, the option of simply posting photos also has the right to life, but it’s better to somehow prove yourself. Most importantly, do not confuse Instagram with Facebook and do not write long posts. A couple of suggestions are enough. But remember: users prefer to like rather than comment.

#Photo content

It can be interesting to everyone or narrowly thematic, useful or purely entertaining. One thing is important without a doubt - it must be of high quality both in meaning and in the quality of photographs. Yes, there are individuals who create content for Instagram solely through the camera of their smartphone. Of course, this is a personal matter for everyone, but your branded account should not have any blurry shots, pixelation, and other joys of a pseudo-photographer.

Use different variants- still lifes, collages, portraits - anything that can attract attention. Don't limit yourself to photographing your products, think a little wider. Play charades with your brand, act on associations. See what the accounts of various Western brands look like, for example, the very “tasty” page of the Oreo company:

But even less well-known, or even local brands can not be inferior to the titans of marketing. Here is a stunning Instagram showcase of the American clothing store Topo Designs. It is simply interesting to be subscribed to such an account. The best photos of users are placed here, which is why it all looks so attractive. Notice they manage to do this without actively promoting their own hashtags. But there is also a little trick that you can safely take into service. Along with a glossy account that attracts users, there is a second account that specifically represents products from the store.

Don't post your logo instead of photos. Even if your boss is happy about it, who else is interested? And in general, you should not overdo it with branding: remember, the viral effect on Instagram is negligible. If a person has subscribed to your account, it means that he has already expressed a certain degree of trust and there is no need to disappoint him. For example, the Red .Bull energy page reflects the concept and emotional message of the brand:

Now imagine how the account would look like if it had photos of energy jars.

We will talk about contests, promotions and bonuses further, and as part of a conversation about content, we can mention such a form of interactive, such as publishing photos of subscribers selected according to certain criteria. best photo months, the hundredth shot, the first photo of the day - it doesn't matter. The main thing is that the picture from the user's feed posted in your account is at least the joy of the author of the masterpiece and the interest in what happened from all his subscribers.

#Video content

This format, which appeared not so long ago, in principle, is already popular, especially among brands that have everything necessary to create it. by the most interesting videos Western accounts of Oreo, Lego, National Geographic, Go Pro, etc. are famous.

Additional features

#Hashtags

Hashtags are one of the main magical powers of Instagram, so let's talk about them in more detail. It is with the help of these words, and sometimes phrases, that the inhabitants of this kingdom communicate.

Why are hashtags needed? This is a kind of cataloging within a social network. When you search for text, for example, on VKontakte, theoretically you can find it by the words it includes. With photographs, everything is more difficult. Therefore, arbitrary hashtags are put under each picture: they can refer to what is shown in the photo (#cat), display some kind of mood (#happy), season, weather, event - whatever. Top hashtags can be seen here.

Using hashtags, you can both search for images and tag your pictures so that they can find you. You can use a hashtag with the brand name under your images or come up with your own as part of an ongoing advertising campaign. Each hashtag is an active link. By clicking on it, the user sees all the images that they have marked.

For example, the well-known Western youth clothing brand Forever .21 maintains its account under the motto Wear it. Share it ("Wear. Share"), realizing this with the help of your own hashtag #F21xMe. It is also interesting that this hashtag does not just voice the brand. He helps customers feel their connection with him, as if saying: "This is Forever 21 in my performance."

#Location detection

Instagram functionality allows you to determine the place where the photo was taken. You can choose the current location or create a new one using the suggested options (right in the service interface, at the stage of preparing a photo for publication).

How can this be used in marketing? There are many options. Let's take an example: did you open a new store in your network? It is very convenient to take beautiful pictures and mark the location. Also, under an interesting photo of the product, you can note in which store it is sold, etc.

#Going beyond Instagram

Instagram "besides itself" gives wide opportunities to post existing content on other sites. You can:

Post photos from your account on the company's website
This is very easy to do directly from the Instagram web interface (from the official website, not from mobile application). In this case, you will receive a clickable Instagram photo with a link leading to your profile. In order to get this link, you need to open the desired photo, click on the button with three dots and select Embed - a window will open with a link that can be inserted into the site page code.

What does it give? Photos from Instagram can be used for a variety of purposes: from summarizing the results of the competition to a selection of images, in order to highlight any interesting event, the pictures from which users uploaded to the application (with a specific hashtag).

Photos inserted in this way will retain both likes and a link to the profile, and since they are often taken on a phone and are far from perfect in quality, it is better to mark this separately.

However, photos can also be saved directly from the Instagram feed. However, this allows you to get only an image opened in a separate tab (without likes and comments), which can be saved as a picture. On the mobile devices this can be done using various applications, for example, InstaSave works on iOS and Android. In the web interface, just open the source code of the page and find a link to the photo itself there, for example, //photos-g.ak.instagram.com/hphotos-ak-xaf1/10735041_1480567495564702 _720656284_n.jpg:

An even easier way to download a photo is to use a special service, such as 4kdownload.com.

Be prudent: it is extremely difficult to contact the technical support of the social network. To be frank, in Russia, compliance with the rules may not always or not be monitored as quickly. However, this does not eliminate the risk, and the likelihood that sanctions will be applied remains quite high.

IV. Instagram promotion techniques

Once you have decided on the strategy, content and other main points, the natural question arises: how to make sure that at least someone sees all this? Yes, there will be ads on Instagram soon. However, no one names the exact dates, and it is still impossible to assess its actual effectiveness. However, millionaire accounts do exist. How did they achieve such results?

There are, in fact, only two methods for attracting subscribers to an account. We conditionally divide them into artificial and natural.

Artificial attraction of subscribers

This category can be included as effective methods paid posting in popular accounts, and senseless cheating of subscribers (and likes). Let's take a closer look.

#Cheating the number of subscribers

The method, frankly, is controversial. It consists in buying subscribers, but simply bots. These accounts are either originally registered for promotional purposes or have been bought or stolen from their owners. And if at first glance, especially to a non-specialist, they may seem quite natural, for the most part they are of no use, but your account can be blocked for cheating.

If you really resort to such a method (for example, to promote a "zero" account, create the appearance of activity), then this should be done very carefully, and it is better to refuse altogether.

Therefore, although such a method exists, it, like in other social networks, can at best be auxiliary, but, most likely, it will bring you nothing but harm, waste of time and money.

#Paid posts on Instagram

If you already use Instagram and follow any public pages or celebrity accounts, then you have probably seen paid posts. But even if you have not encountered anything like this, pay attention to this promotion format - it has shown itself well in practice.

It's actually quite simple. In the same way, advertising is bought on public pages in other social networks, be it Facebook, VKontakte or Odnoklassniki. First you need to make a list of thematic accounts (find them by hashtags or in the list of popular ones) and contact them. The second option is to use the Instagram advertising exchange - a site that will act as an intermediary between you as an advertiser and the owners of popular accounts you are interested in.

Further - easier. A post is posted in the desired account, you (your account) are marked on the image (in the description). As a result, you get coverage, subscribers and other bonuses - depending on the goals, content quality and the correct choice of the site. For example, promotion of the Oh, My Master! in the official profile famous model, leading and fashion blogger Victoria Boni gave excellent results (including in attracting new subscribers).

The most traditional of the paid types of promotion is promotion on blogs, with the help of PR articles, on websites. These are all kinds of promotional materials, the inclusion of your account in the collections from the category of “10 most fashionable Instagram accounts that you need to follow” on any popular resource. This can be an active link to a photo from your profile inside the material or on the site where your target audience is concentrated. It is desirable that the resource on which you are hosting has an adaptive layout for mobile devices.

Natural ways to promote

If all the previous methods had in common that you usually have to pay for them, here the situation is reversed: it all depends on your skills and your coolness. But in any case, such methods of promotion require certain labor costs, please note.

#Using popular hashtags

We have already talked about where to look at this list, but you can resort to other methods, for example, use search engines. We won’t dare to give the TOP 100 hashtags right here: it is constantly changing and from the moment the book is written to the time it is read, it will become outdated several times.

Hashtag search works great - it is loved by users, it is also convenient for brands. When posting any content in accordance with the chosen strategy, it will not be superfluous to put a hashtag from the list of popular ones. So you can significantly increase the reach of the publication, get new likes and even subscribers if they like your content.

Also, overly common hashtags like #happy may not give an unambiguous effect. It is difficult to find your target audience when every third user around the world uses such tags.

#Subscriptions and likes

If the mountain does not come to you, then pack your backpack and go to the mountains. Go to subscribers, like their photos found by thematic hashtags, subscribe to their accounts. Too difficult? However, it works and is more than effective: ad personalization is a great technique. At least the user will go to see who subscribed to him.

It is also impossible to measure such an important metric as reach. Here we would recommend using various statistics collection services, for example, J.conosquare, known from SMM specialists. Due to the novelty of this type of promotion, such tools for Instagram are much less than for other social networks, however, you can choose the one that is more convenient for you from the available ones.

#Competitions, discounts, bonuses

Pleasant "buns" still remain a good remedy engagement, because everyone loves to receive gifts. Discounts, bonuses for subscribers, drawings of a priceless prize - here the fantasy is not limited. As for the methods of conducting competitions, at the moment there are two main ones most often:

Using a custom hashtag
The main condition of the competition is to post any (specified by the rules) photo in a personal account with a certain hashtag.
It's great if it contains the brand name. Also one of mandatory conditions participation can be a subscription to a promoted account.
But in such competitions, significant motivation (a good prize, a bonus) and a simple task are required. Few people want to sew a Batman costume and climb high-rise in it because of a branded lighter.

An example of such a technique can be a competition in the account of the home appliance manufacturer Korting. Participants were asked to upload photos of various dishes with good wishes and the hashtag #cutemeal. About fifty pictures were posted, and the most active ones took part in a professional culinary master class.

Using the repost app
In the wake of the spread of such applications, contests like “Repost this post and get a pink elephant” began to gain popularity. Actually, this phrase describes the whole point. In this way, you can get a lot of coverage, but there is one “but”: the user must have the same application for reposts installed.

McDonalds, Zara, Dove, GoPro, Clinique - how do global brands manage their Instagram pages? Learning from successful companies.

SMM in companies of different sizes is very different. For example, if I bake the most delicious eclairs in the world at home, I can take a picture of them, make a post on Instagram - and take orders for the next batch directly in direct.

At the same time, McDonalds, exposing photos of their harmful goodies, is unlikely to expect to receive questions in the spirit of: “Wow, how much does it cost?”, “How to order?”, “Is there delivery?”.

Large companies put image and brand awareness among a large number of people at the head of the table. Small business - directly increase sales.

Nevertheless, it is big business that has the ability to create interesting and high-quality content that catches social media users. What global brands do on Instagram - I will show in this review.

, 380 thousand subscribers

Sprite actively uses influencers on its Instagram page. Nothing surprising, you say, but in the signatures, the brand emphasizes that these are opinion leaders, and they will definitely influence you.

In all the posts, the company tries to joke, shows behind the scenes of the shooting (in the photo below you can see how Sprite remains cold during photo shoots), and almost every third post contains a video.

Twix, 246 thousand subscribers

It seems Twix's strategy is to publish whatever comes to hand. Therefore, the profile contains both perfectly photoshopped frames with the product, and videos recorded on the phone at some kind of event.

What caught my attention are the short graphic videos that come with funny captions.

The number of Instagram users today is 130 million active users, billions of new likes appear every hour. If you work with this service correctly, you can provide instant viral marketing success. But otherwise, failure is inevitable. For those who have just started promoting their brand on Instagram, business2community.com has collected 52 useful advice how to successfully run an advertising campaign using this social platform.

account settings

1. Create an Instagram business account - it's very easy.

2. Use the name of the company or brand as the name. If it is taken, then choose the name that is most associated with the brand.

3. Fill in the profile information: upload a beautiful brand photo, add a short information about yourself, link to the company website.

4. Integrate your account with Facebook.

5. Set up automatic integration of photos from Instagram to Facebook, this will increase the number of reposts. Companies like Mercedes Benz get a lot of likes with cross-posts:

6. Come up with a unique brand strategy, rely on it in all aspects of promotion, show people your company's view of the world, focus all content around a bright unique idea.

Advertise your account

7. Use the tools to promote your Instagram account. For example, big brands in Russia use plibber.ru - it's enough to come up with creative content and an image, and then choose the accounts in which you are going to advertise. The average cost of one organic subscriber is from 1 to 3 rubles.

Hashtags

8. Hashtags in updates are one of the key components of the service. It is with the help of hashtags that the user will be able to find photos of the desired brand. Unlike Twitter, the number of characters is not limited, but do not overdo it, it looks intrusive.

9. Include the brand name in the hashtag. Write unique hashtags for individual advertising campaigns. For example, if you decide to run a photo contest, come up with a special hashtag for this. This tactic will not only be a good advertisement for the brand, but will also allow users to connect with each other, the contestants will thus see who they are competing with. Here's how Dry Soda used #fridayDRYday to engage users and share photos:

10. Use generic hashtags in every post. For example, if you're a coffee shop owner and you posted a photo of a latte, use the hashtags #latte or #coffee.

11. Use popular hashtags. Trends on Instagram change very quickly, so if you have time to join the fashion movement in time, add a suitable hashtag. Thus, your post will be among the most famous, and the number of views will be measured in thousands.

12. Be sure to follow new and relevant hashtags on Instagram. Add them to your posts. Take some time to connect with users who add these hashtags, comment and like their posts. Your activity will not go unnoticed.

13. Monitor the web and look for users adding your brand name as a hashtag. This is how subscribers use feedback to tell you something important. Track all mentions the same way you would on Facebook and Twitter. Reply quickly to ensure a good and long relationship with buyers.

The main thing – Thisclients

14. Show your followers how much you appreciate them by posting and sharing their best photos on social networks. But remember, before you leave a post, be sure to ask permission. Starbucks, one of the top three brands on Instagram, uses this tactic very often. Once every few weeks, they dedicate a post to one of the followers, posting their artwork depicting one of the Starbucks products.

15. With the new feature in Instagram that allows you to embed Instagram photos on other sites, you are given the opportunity to host full-fledged fan posts. Make sure the user is aware that their post will appear on your site.

16. Like your followers' photos, especially if they feature your brand.

17. Comment on followers' photos.

18. Respond to all comments that are left on your photos / videos, even if they are negative.

19. Use mentions with @. Users love to be approached personally. For example, Coca-Cola singled out a subscriber who won a photo contest:

20. Use @mentions and tag celebrities. If your image has something to do with the figure famous person, then do not be afraid to mark a star. Perhaps the photo will interest him / her so much that a repost will follow.

21. Focus on attracting buyers, create publications, constantly thinking about customers. An Instagram business should be geared towards the lifestyle your customers lead.

Show yourself

22. Don't forget to be creative: use various filters, interesting angles, lighting effects and other photography tricks. Add variety with programs like Photoshop, Diptic or Photoshake. Merge multiple images into one. Here is a great example of how you can combine three photos:

25. Show users how to use your company's products in real life. Here is an example of Whistler Water showing fans drinking their water at a concert:

26. Always maintain a perfect image: followers like cool brands. For example, Pilot Pen USA, which sells pens, is an example of successful marketing. Their Instagram is filled with stylish photos of notes and pens:

27. Illustrate the brand story colorfully: post beautiful photos and videos to show users the fundamental principles and values that underpin the life and work of the company.

28. Open up to the world: post photos of your employees, tell us who is behind the success of your brand. Shoot videos from behind the scenes, share how a typical working day goes in your company. This will strengthen the brand image and the perception of the followers. Williams Sonoma practices a similar technique:

29. Post funny, entertaining CEO videos to get "closer to the people." For example, shoot short funny videos where he talks about what he likes to do outside of work hours.

30. Post unique content to make users feel special. Share photos that can't be found on other social networks.

31. Whether you're launching a product, hosting a band's first gig, or opening a new store, do it on Instagram. For example, on the day of the opening, make a video of the staff getting ready for the official moment while the customers wait in anticipation.

32. Create a teaser that will show the preparation of the product for the launch on the market or the event for the opening. But do not reveal the secret of what exactly is at stake.

33. Post a report on Instagram about an event that has already taken place. Feel free to show how the company's employees work in real life.

34. Build partnerships with other brands, no matter what business you represent: a small store or an international holding. You can achieve ideal cooperation - mutually advertise the products of companies in the feed. For example, Wimbledon and Nike:

Be creative

35. Ask users to write comments. If you want maximum engagement, speak up. Questions breed discussion. Ask readers what they think of a recently published post or image.

36. Ask questions about the company or product, get users talking about them. Ask if they've used the brand's product today, create a hashtag so followers can post photos about the topic. Target, for example, asks questions like “What flavor of popsicles do you like?” and users in turn start talking about the brand online.

38. Create interactive "fill in the gaps" posts. For example, if your business is a grocery store, post an image of a breakfast cereal and caption “I love starting my day with a plate of _____.” People will discuss your product and express their opinion.

39. Another original way to capture the attention of users is to ask them to come up with a caption for the image. Be original and publish unusual photo one of your products. Announce a contest for the best signature and don't forget to come up with a small prize for the winner.

40. Crowdsource: Ask users to post pictures of the role your brand plays in their lives. This will help to understand the target audience, as well as useful for further research aimed at business development. But in order to attract the maximum number of users, you will have to launch a photo contest.

Competitions inInstagram

41. An Instagram photo contest is an opportunity to get a huge amount of user generated content and new ideas, or just to get all the attention for your company. Set the theme of the competition you need and let customers show their creativity. Here is an example of what you can do if you sell mocha:

42. If you run an Instagram contest, make sure the prize is good enough to motivate entry and further spread of the word online. Sometimes it is the prize that can cause the viral effect of the photo contest.

Don't Forget Mobile Users

44. Use geotagging - linking photos to a map. Add your location to the post to target local users in this way.

45. Stop separating online and offline reality. Post QR codes on Instagram so that users can scan them to receive, for example, discount coupons.

46. If you're hosting an event, create a suitable hashtag where people can post their photo reports and get to know others.

47. Organize an online meeting for active users who may be potential buyers.

RaiseROI

48. Regardless of the number of subscribers, post content consistently. Users will look specifically at the brand account, knowing they will find interesting updates.

49. Decide on the frequency of publications. Some brands post 2-3 times a day, others 2-3 times a week. Use analytics to determine the frequency that suits you.

50. Find out what is the best time to post content. Each brand is individual. Therefore, you should resort to the help of analytics to find out when photos get the most likes, or what time subscribers actively use hashtags.

51. Analyze results: track activity across all metrics (hashtags, likes, shares, etc.)

52. Improve yourself. Based on the results, draw conclusions and improve the content.

Today, there are many services for automated promotion of your Instagram account, which, for a small fee, will help you attract followers and increase brand awareness.

53. The Zengram online service combines in its functionality a wide range of benefits and opportunities related to the promotion of Instagram accounts.

Its main advantages:

simultaneous maintenance of an unlimited number of accounts from one personal account;
full control over actions;
advanced targeting settings;
mutual liking of their subscribers;
sending welcome messages to new users in direct;
instaspy;
attentive and responsive. support;
full analytics;
work through a proxy;
cleaning from bots and commercial accounts;
parser and comment likes.

The cost of the service depends on the number of days of subscription, the more days you buy, the more you save. For each new user, the first 7 days are free of charge.

The Zengram blog regularly publishes useful informational articles about the promotion. If you have not yet decided how to create an account for business on Instagram, focus on the article "What to write about yourself on Instagram: designing a business profile" . It will provide guidance on choosing a name for promoting a small / large business or personal brand, Tips for designing a profile header and maintaining an account.

54. The innovative SMM promotion tool Instapromo occupies one of the leading positions in all areas of Insta promotion. The service offers a full range of services:

promotion (mass liking, mass commenting, mass following)
deferred posting

A few years ago, futurists predicted that Instagram would become one of the most powerful sales tools.

The monthly audience of Instagram exceeded 500 million active users, and 9 months ago, the audience of the service was 100 million less. Every day, 200 million users visit Instagram.

The recall of paid social media posts shown to users is 2.8 times higher than standard online advertising. Users also tend to click on them and make purchases: today, 45% of online shopping involves the use of mobile devices at some level.

It seems that the prediction is gradually becoming a reality. However, there's no denying that the magic of Instagram doesn't work for everyone. There are those who unsuccessfully fight for the attention of service users, and those who are doing great.

Why is this happening? To answer the question of what separates successful Instagram brands from less successful ones, you need to look at what top brands post on Instagram and see what you can apply from it.

1. Magnolia Bakery

The page for one of New York's most popular bakeries is as delightful as you'd expect.

The company knows its target audience very well and understands what it wants - in this case, these are bright cupcakes and puddings. Therefore, the brand does everything to meet the desires of its customers.

The brand also draws attention to the fact that their company is one of the main attributes of New York. That's what clients love about her. Therefore, the background of many published photos are views of the city.

If you look closely at the photos, you will realize that they are all in the same style, which brings harmony to the brand page.

2. Vogue

When you think of Vogue, you inevitably think of fashion and celebrities.

The fashion magazine embodies its brand on the Instagram page as well. The entire Vogue account is filled with photos of celebrities in haute couture outfits.

Another advantage of the Vogue page is that the brand is trying to balance the number of photos and videos in order to keep users interested.

A few weeks ago, the annual Met Ball took place, during which the company filmed a video with selected celebrities for its Instagram account. Needless to say, each video has over a million likes.

Vogue was also one of the first to experiment with different sizes of Instagram photos.

3. NikeLab

This is a Nike account dedicated to all kinds of innovations. Nike Lab posts photos of really cool shoes.

While Nike is one of the leaders in terms of subscribers, Nike Lab takes the prize for amazing content.

The secret to their success is posting three similar photos or videos to showcase the shoes.

In addition to content about new shoes, the page also posts experiments and the process of finding new ideas in the shoe industry.

4. Louis Vuitton

The fashion label's Instagram page is filled with photos of celebrities from around the world wearing brand-designed clothing.

In addition to the usual red carpet photos, they also post videos from their shows and, of course, bags.

Unlike other brands that experiment with image parameters, Louis Vuitton sticks to the classics.

5. Frooti

Frooti is a mango juice company. The company page perfectly reflects all that this brand is.

The pictures are always funny and witty and the color scheme is just perfect. It is used not only in the Instagram account, creating a unified style: it is also the colors of the juice boxes.

6. Starbucks

This world-famous coffee brand does everything to be loved on social media as much as it is loved in real life.

Instead of a similar color scheme, Starbucks uses the same photo filter.

Starbucks' Instagram is full of branded mugs, green straws and, of course, coffee. In addition, the company posts a large number of seasonal drinks to remind your followers about them.

Right now, Starbucks Instagram is full of bright summer flowers and iced lattes.

7. old spice

Old Spice is known for its offhand social media wit, which is reflected in the photos the company posts.

8. Skittles

Small colored balls. How can they be advertised on Instagram?

An important condition is that the color of the candies should be combined with the background.

9. Taco Bell

Taco Bell is the epitome of delicious tacos. But if you constantly post photos of tacos, followers can get bored and leave.

Therefore, the company chooses the most unusual ways to showcase their tacos and sauces in every photo.

Taco Bell, like Frooti, sticks to a specific color scheme.

10. Barkbox

How did the subscription box page for dogs get over a million subscribers? Very simple: because of the photos of dogs.

The brand posts funny and cute pictures of dogs surrounded by Barkbox packages.

11. Netflix

The video service has released several original series and always allows its subscribers to get insiders on their Instagram account.

In addition, the company posts witty pictures in mockery of its series and those that are simply streamed by Netflix.

12. Converse

Converse is more than just shoes, it's a lifestyle. This is exactly what Converse is trying to convey to Instagram followers.

The account is filled with photos of people who overcome obstacles and live the way they like.

Converse uses a specific set of filters for its photos.

13. sharpie

If there was an Instagram Most Creative award, Sharpie would win it.

Just like Skittles, he doesn't have much to show when it comes to their product pens and markers, so Sharpie has to get creative and that's what makes the brand unique.

Sharpie's Instagram is full of color and black and white sketches made with Sharpie products.

What is especially striking is that the brand does not try to give the sketches a professional look. They look like anyone could draw them with Sharpie pens.

14. Audi

Audi cars need no introduction. On Instagram, the brand does everything so that subscribers can admire them from different angles.

Although black is a recognized classic, the company posts cars in red, yellow, orange color to make the page look brighter.

On Valentine's Day, the company launched the #HowToAskForAnAudi campaign, comparing buying a car with a marriage proposal. The action received attention from both couples in love and free users.

15. Forever 21

American apparel prioritizes affordable fashion, so they try to educate their followers on all the latest trends.

Instead of posting the same catalog photos, they share photos of their followers wearing their clothes and accessories, attaching a store link for those who want to purchase something.

This is a great way to boost sales with content from customers.

16. GoPro

Since many users already share photos taken with Go Pro cameras, the company often posts them on its page to show followers what can be created with these cameras.

Every day, the company chooses a photo of a subscriber for the Photo of the Day section.

17. Whole Foods

Whole Foods is a brand of fresh organic products, which is perfectly reflected in its Instagram page.

The company uses a bright summer color scheme, so the dishes in the photo look very appetizing.

18. national geographic

The National Geographic Instagram page has more than 50 million followers, and it's all thanks to the beautiful photos.

Some of the photographs are taken from the magazine's archives, but most of them are taken by photographers who work with National Geographic and travel around the world looking for great shots.

19. oreo

How do you make attractive photos if all you have is a cookie that always looks the same from every angle?

You need to imagine it in ordinary and unusual situations.

Instagram Oreo looks very tempting, you will definitely want to eat one with coffee.

20. Vans

Most people already know that Vans is a shoe brand.

So instead of focusing on shoes, InstagramVans reflects the lifestyle that the brand represents, as well as their skateboards and surfboards.

21. Chobani

Chobani is just a yogurt company that has become amazingly successful on Instagram.

The company posts both photos of its products and dishes made with yogurt with the hashtag #madewithchobani. And if you are interested in the recipes of these dishes, you need to subscribe to the brand's mailing list.

22. headspace

Headspace is a meditation app that promotes Zen on Instagram too.

The Headspace account is simple, filled with fun graphics and quotes. The brand also pays attention to the color scheme so that all publications are in harmony with each other.

23. General Electric

Most perceive General Electric as just a huge corporation, so the company is trying to change this perception by showing its Instagram followers what is really happening behind the scenes.

On the GE page, you can find some really impressive machines and interviews with employees who gave the company many years of their lives.

24. Red Bull

Red Bull is making full use of the potential of video on Instagram. The company publishes more videos than photos, and most of the videos are about adrenaline-fueled extreme activities like snowboarding, rock jumping, or kayaking.

25. Canva

Instagram Canva is full of inspiring graphics that help followers start the day on a positive note.

Since the brand is a graphic designer, it pays a lot of attention to making sure the photos blend well and uses a specific set of filters.

Your turn

Now you know the secrets of successful Instagram brands and can apply them to your work. Dare!